Strong support for safe injection centers in SF

A used needle is discarded at the Civic Center BART station. The city is considering becoming the first in the United States to open a safe injection site for injection drug users.

A used needle is discarded at the Civic Center BART station. The...

San Francisco is inching closer to a decision on whether to create a supervised, city-sanctioned place for people to use injection drugs safely.

On Thursday, the S.F. Safe Injection Services Task Force, created to explore the options and obstacles surrounding a safe injection site, met for the final time before the Department of Public Health, which oversaw the group, presents recommendations to the Board of Supervisors next month.

While questions remain on where a site might be located and how it would be run, remarks from many of the task force members, including health department Director Barbara Garcia, suggested there was strong support for moving ahead.

With some parts of the country experiencing an opioid abuse epidemic, “the greatest concern I have is that we may not have a choice for doing this — we may do this just out of the need to try to save drug users’ lives,” Garcia said. As San Francisco confronts soaring injection drug use in public and the dire health hazards posed by used syringes strewn on the streets, a safe injection site “is something that we should be investigating the potential of,” she said.

According to public health statistics, an estimated 22,000 people in the city use injectable drugs, primarily heroin and methamphetamine, with most of the drug use occurring in the Tenderloin and South of Market.

Proponents of safe injection sites say they are essential to helping the city prevent overdose deaths and, because the site would provide drug users with clean needles, slow the spread of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis. Health officials also hope that a safe injection site can act as a way out of addiction by giving drug users access to treatment programs and other services.

There are no safe injection sites in the United States. Seattle is the farthest along among American cities to opening one. The idea has run into strong objections from residents who don’t want a site in their neighborhoods. To date, three cities near Seattle, including Bellevue, Wash., have voted to keep them out.

Where San Francisco’s site would be located “will possibly be the most controversial part of doing this,” said Alex Kral, a task force member and the director of urban health at RTI International, a nonprofit research institute. A widespread concern among opponents is that a site would serve as a magnet for drug dealers and crime.

“I’m nervous about us entering a long, protracted period of trying to find the perfect place, because I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Kral said.

At Thursday’s meeting, the task force reviewed the results of two surveys and two focus groups convened by the health department and HealthRight360, a medical care and substance abuse treatment provider.

The surveys and focus groups, which included 679 San Francisco residents — including some recovering addicts with less than a year of sobriety — found that at least half of the respondents supported a safe injection site coupled with services such as addiction treatment.

Many critics, however, remain deeply opposed, contending the city is condoning drug use while spending taxpayer money to support people who are breaking the law.

“I hear them. I understand where they’re coming from, and I get it,” said Board of Supervisors President London Breed, who formed the safe injection site task force in April. After the board receives the task force’s report next month, Breed said she will seek more public opinion before moving forward.

She added that Vancouver, which has opened two safe injection sites, has seen fewer drug-related emergencies and reported a reduction in overdose deaths.

“I personally believe we should try it. It pains me to want to do this, to spend money on this, but I feel like it could do more good than bad. And how do we know unless we give it a chance?” Breed said.